India’s Camel Doctors

A government nurse treated a camel with a stomach infection at the Pushkar cattle fair.

Right now in the usually sleepy Rajasthani desert town of Pushkar, thousands of lean, athletic-looking camels are on display for prospective buyers at the annual cattle fair, one of the largest livestock markets of its kind in the world.

But many of the humped creatures, who have traveled to the site by foot, often for days at a time, are in less than peak condition, bruised and battered from the journey.

That’s where the on-site camel surgery steps in.

Dr. Pradeep Singhla, a veterinarian, working with Jaipur-based animal welfare charity Help In Suffering, is leading a team of 11 trainee animal doctors and nurses at a clinic at the fair.

They expect to offer free treatment to around 100 sick camels each day of the 8-day fair, which runs until Nov. 17.

"It's in the owners’ interest to look after their camels because after all that's their livelihood, but we're here to help and to make sure the animals are treated properly," Dr. Singhla, 33, said as he treated a male camel lying on its side and wailing in pain with a large cut on his lower body.

Atish Patel for The Wall Street Journal

A camel is treated after sustaining a wound caused by a metal nose peg at the Help In Suffering clinic in Pushkar, Rajasthan.

This year, 10,273 animals are expected to sell at the fair, including 4,915 camels, Rajasthan's department of animal husbandry said.

The Help In Suffering clinic's job also involves distributing leaflets and talking to camel herders to educate them about preventing and treating injuries among their camel caravans.

"I saw a case in which a calf was bitten by a dog in the middle of the night and the owner used chili powder for the wound, just one example of the lack of knowledge and improper management among owners," said Dr. Singhla.

But using traditional remedies, such as jaggery, a sweet syrup and human hair wrapped over a hot iron rod to stop a wound from bleeding, makes the problem worse, the doctor added.

Indian herders prefer to rein their camels using rope tied to metal or wooden pegs pierced through the animal's nostrils. This can cause wounds, which sometimes become infested with maggots, as happened to a three-year-old camel owned by Manj Singh, who is hoping to sell the beast for 20,000 rupees ($313).

Around 70% of all cases treated by Help In Suffering during last year’s fair involved wounds caused by nose pegs. The charity, which has had a presence at the event since 2004, says plastic pegs are much safer. They are handing them out for free to camel owners.

Atish Patel for The Wall Street Journal

Camel herders surround a mobile medical unit van run by the Rajasthan government at the Pushkar cattle fair.

Other common problems seen by the team include wounds from saddles, loss of appetite and skin infections.

Dr. Singhla heads Help In Suffering's Camel Project, a shelter specially for the animals, on the outskirts of Jaipur. French-based charity Animaux Secours, Swiss groups ELSU Foundation and Marchig Trust, and the Carpenter Trust in the UK, fund the enterprise.

During the cool winter months taking place now in northern India, the rut, or mating season, gets underway. Over this period male camels become aggressive and tend to fight, often leading to injuries, particularly to the sensitive lower jaw.

With the livestock sector accounting for around 8% of Rajasthan's gross domestic product and the agricultural industry generating employment for millions of the state’s rural inhabitants, the department of animal husbandry in Rajasthan is aware of the economic benefits of keeping the cattle fair healthy. It bolsters its own team of veterinarians each year at the fair, posting over 25 animal doctors for the duration of the event. The town of Puskhar has two permanent veterinarians the rest of the year.

The government has also set up two temporary clinics and two mobile medical units able to offer treatment and medication for a nominal fee to camels spread out across the desert in Pushkar.

Surra, a disease contracted by a fly-born parasite, which causes camels to suffer fever, skin rashes and hump shrinkage, a sign of poor health, is of particular concern to traders at the fair. If untreated, the virus can be fatal. The state government for the first time has implemented a surveillance program to track the infection and animals are tested for the disease regularly. Horses, cows and buffaloes, of which there are 5,357 at the fair, can also contract the virus.

So far at this year’s event, at least two confirmed cases have been found, said Dr. B. S. Pal from Rajasthan's department of animal husbandry who estimates that there were thousands of cases of the disease across India in 2012.